The severe winter weather and volume and weight of
traffic on Garrison Lane has caused the condition of the road to
deteriorate rapidly and a structural assessment in the new year
identified that extensive repairs and reconstruction are required
along the whole length of Garrison Lane and on a small adjacent
section of Church Lane.

These major works offer the opportunity to improve
the road layout to address a number of safety issues on Garrison
Lane. Two exhibitions have been
provided for local public consultation on the road layout
proposals.Large
scale drawings of the road layout proposals were available to view
on display at the Neighbourhood Committee meeting and on the RBK
website.

Councillors requested to be informed as soon as
possible about the arrangements for diverting bus routes during the
works and advised that that information needed to be sent to
residents at the earliest opportunity so that it would be clear to
residents how the services were being managed. Thought would need to be given to how the upper
end of Garrison Lane would be served, as well as the Copt Gilders
end.
Councillors emphasised the acute need for public transport for many
elderly and deprived residents in Chessington South and asked
Officers to liaise with alternative transport providers such as Age
Concern and Richmond and Kingston Accessible Transport (RaKAT) to
see if any alternative transport service could be provided during
the works, to take vulnerable residents to the bus stops. (London
Councils Grant funding could be sought for this
service). Members also reported that
residents had expressed concerns about the state of Stokesby Road
– these concerns would be passed to the Head of Highways
Assets and Administration to investigate.

Among the comments made by members of the public at
the meeting were the following:

·need to plan for access by emergency
vehicles, for example for residents on Selby Close

·can action be taken to prevent Heavy
Goods Vehicles using Garrison Lane and contributing to the
deterioration of the road surface, for example, advisory
signage? (Satnav has been reported as
diverting HGVs down this route.)

·pleased that the bus stop near Crayke
Hill would be put back opposite Coxwold Path.

1.the progress to date, road layout proposals, and the
feedback from the exhibitions be noted.

2.authority be delegated to the Director of
Environment and Sustainability to
finalise any amendments to the detailed design (in
consultationwith the Chair and Vice Chair of
the Neighbourhood Committee and the ward councillors) and to
implement those measures.

3.the potential reallocation of funding from the
Bridge Road improvements scheme to fund these works be
noted.

Reason for the decision

To
allow officers to proceed with the implementation of the
reconstruction and new road layout proposals for Garrison
Lane.

The Neighbourhood Committees can award grants of up to £750
towards the costs of projects or activities run by voluntary
organisations in their area. Subject to certain criteria, the
Committee can decide to award grant aid where an activity is of
direct benefit to the residents of the Neighbourhood in terms of
social welfare, sports, art, play and leisure activities, youth
provision or environmental improvement. The Committee noted
that, having allocated the grants below, there would only be
£180 remaining of the Committee’s £2,000 Grants
budget, which would not give much scope for funding new groups
during the year. The Committee
considered that it would be helpful to encourage local
organisations to view Neighbourhood grant as pump-priming for new
activities so that established activities might try to start
seeking other sources of funding.

RESOLVED

1)
that grants be awarded as follows:

i)
Connaught Opera£570

ii)
Rotary Club of Surbiton
£500

iii)
Chessington Cricket Club
£750

2)
‘that the following guidance be provided for applicants for
South of the Borough Neighbourhood Committee grant
funding: The Neighbourhood Committee is
unlikely to continue to support every year groups who apply each
year for funding for the same activity.’

Reason for the decisions

To assist the voluntary organisations to carry out their activities
in the Neighbourhood.